Celtic ask Uefa to play Champions League qualifiers in England or Republic of Ireland

The Telegraph | Oct 31

Celtic will ask Uefa if they can play next summer’s Champions League ties in England or the Republic of Ireland, their chief executive revealed on Wednesday.

Celtic Park, along with Ibrox and Hampden, is to be used for the Commonwealth Games next summer, at the same time as the Scottish champions – assuming they achieve a third successive title – will be required to play European qualifiers.

Murrayfield is the only other Scottish ground with a capacity similar to that of Celtic’s 60,000-seat stadium, and remains the most likely alternative venue, but when asked if the decision to use the home of Scottish rugby had been finalised, Peter Lawwell said: “Not yet. We are currently in discussion with Uefa in terms of what options we have.

“Once they are happy with those options then we will go and speak to the relevant owners of the stadia, possibly outside Scotland. There is an angle there we could maybe look at but, again, we need Uefa’s approval for that.

“It could be England or Ireland. The Aviva in Dublin or Croke Park or maybe even down south at a northern Premiership club. We have a big support in Dublin and the stadium was full when we played Liverpool in the summer there, so that would be great.”